Wow Your Friends With These Great Summer Drinks

Faced with planning an upcoming, outdoor summer party, I spent about an hour on the internet a few days ago in search of some festive summer drinks. I couldn't believe how many great sounding recipes I encountered. Most of them were entirely new to me.

Then, I did some research. I mixed about 15 drinks myself for taste tests at home, and tried a few more at a friendly area bar. I discovered that prime time TV isn't quite as bad after a few drinks, and I found some great tasting drinks. Here are my five favorites.

First is the Rasmopolitan, courtesy of liclubs.com. It's made with an ounce of Stoli, 1/2 ounce of Triple Sec, a half ounce of fresh lime juice, and however much cranberry juice is required to fill a tall class after the other ingredients are added. The suggested garnish is a lime wedge.

Another of what turned out to be one of my favorites was also on liclubs.com, something called a Sex on the Beach. This delicious concoction contains an ounce of pineapple juice, an equal amount of cranberry juice, 1/2 ounce of vodka, and a half once of peach schnapps. I shook mine with a few ice cubes and loved it.

Dreamsmixer.com had a simple but great recipe for a drink they appropriately call a Creamy Root Beer Float. Fill a frosted beer mug or similar vessel with ice. Add about 2 ounces of Dr. Mcgillicuddy's Vanilla Schnapps, then add root beer to nearly fill the glass, and drop in a teaspoon of cream.

Have you figured out yet that I not exactly a two fisted drinker? If so, you won't be shocked that my next choice, courtesy of frontgate.com, is a Strawberry Colada. To make one, just put together 1-1/4 ounce of (light) rum, 1/4 ounce of pineapple juice, and an ounce each of pina colada mix and strawberry daiquiri mix. Blend it and garnish with a cherry and an orange slice. It will taste as good as it looks.

My final selection is a drink without alcohol. It's important that all events at which alcohol is served offer a non-alcoholic alternative, and this is a great one I found at recipelink.com, a very interesting site. The Butterfinger requires 2 cups of vanilla ice cream, 2/3 of a Butterfinger candy bar, and a quarter cup of milk. Put a ceramic or glass bowl in your freezer for a minimum of a half hour. Also put the candy bar and a 16 ounce glass in the freezer. After everything is frozen, break the Butterfinger into little pieces, and put it to the side while you pour the ice cream and milk into the frozen bowl and stir until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Then add and stir in the Butterfinger pieces and serve in the frozen glass, with a spoon.

Try these five wonderful drinks...you won't be disappointed. And, if you've got a few minutes, you can find many more terrific drink recipes on the net.